Solutions to Dealing with Difficult Clients

When you work in a B2B services industry, you have long client relationships. I have clients I’ve worked with for years and those are the ones I love. Then there are those, well, that require a bit more patience. Dealing with difficult clients is challenging, however, I’m fortunate that I rarely have this type of customer. But when I do, I try to deal with them in the appropriate manner.

Below I’ve identified the most common types of difficult clients and how to deal with each. See which ones sound familiar to you.

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Dealing With Difficult Clients

1. The Ultra-Hands-On Client

You know the one: They call the second they send you an email to make sure you got it. They follow up before the deadline on a project to make sure it’s on track.

In the office, they’re known as the Micro-manager. But since you’re a consultant, it’s a bit weird that they try to get so involved. After all, they’re paying you to do what you do best, right?

The Solution

My advice here is to establish boundaries.

I’ve had an ultra-hands-on client call me on the weekend – yes, the weekend. I firmly let them know I’d be available at 8 AM on Monday to discuss the non-urgent marketing emergency they felt they were having. You can also give yourself some breathing room on deadlines so you can meet them before the client has a chance to check up on you.

If you tell them you’ll complete a project on Friday and you know they’ll call on Thursday, finish it on Wednesday to avoid them breathing down your neck. But be subtle about it – or else they’ll start calling you on Tuesday.

2. The Untrusting Client

This is the one who isn’t quite sure you’re able to handle the task or understand their company as well as they do.

They’re right to be a bit territorial. But it’s your job to reassure them that you’re skilled in what you do, and get them to let go of their firm grip on things.

The Solution

A lot of times, it’s about control in this situation. And you can’t fight someone’s will to be in control (just ask my husband).

To that end, include your client in the process. Ask for feedback and get their opinion — unless you start to get the sense that they think you’re doing so because you’re unsure of yourself. In that case, show extreme confidence in what you do. If it’s early in your relationship, point them to other clients that can give you a shining recommendation.

3. The “I Can Do It Better Myself” Client

If your client wasn’t so busy running their business, they’d be writing, designing and/or programming whatever you do.

They took a survey course in that field in college 10 years ago, so they know what they’re doing. (But do they really??) So they try to impart their opinion on everything you do. It’s getting in the way of you actually getting quality work done, and sometimes their opinions…how can we say – aren’t shared by the general public.

The Solution

Make them feel like you’re there to lighten their load. Stress the importance of them focusing on what they do best (run their company) while you do the silly, boring work they hired you to do.

When to Fire a Client

You can try all these strategies to try to make an ornery client easier to deal with, but sometimes it’s not worth the stress. In that case, it might be wiser to fire the client. If any of these situations below are coming up regularly, consider letting the client go:

• Projects are taking longer than they should due to constant client involvement.
• You have to revise work frequently and you aren’t getting paid for it.
• The scope of projects gets bigger but the client is unwilling to pay for more work.
• You don’t have time to focus properly on your other clients.

The better you can find successful ways when dealing with difficult clients you may have, the more streamlined your work will be. It’s a matter of determining the best strategy to handle each client.

Frustrated Photo via Shutterstock

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